CEBU, Philippines – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned that the increasing employment of robots in developing countries including Asia, which threatens millions of people from losing their jobs.
In its newly released report entitled “Robots and Industrialization in Developing Countries”— UNCTAD revealed the growing use of industrial automation in developing countries which is seen to bring negative impact job generation.
According to the brief, increased use of robots threatens millions of jobs in developing countries by undermining the advantage of low wages and facilitating “reshoring” of industries back to industrialized countries.
If robots are considered a form of capital that is a close substitute for low-skilled workers, the report explained that this growing use reduces the share of human labor in total production costs.
Adverse effects for developing countries may be significant, UNCTAD warned.
So far, automation is still limited to certain sectors, with industrial robots mostly deployed in the automotive and electrical and electronics industries.
This means that in developing countries — such as Mexico and many countries in Asia — those engaged in export activities in these two sectors are the most exposed to reshoring, said the paper.
Reshoring has also been slow to happen and hasn’t yet undermined continued offshoring. As opposed to offshoring, reshoring sees companies moving their labor operations back to developed countries, to be carried out by robots or automated systems.
Recently, Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) cautioned companies to prepare for the strong entry of automation, which is seen to ultimately substitute a huge chunk of [entry-level ] human function.
“Robotics Process Automation is here. And it is going to take away jobs of those in the lower rank of the ladder,” warned Jonathan de Luzuriaga, PSIA president. “We need to look at the impact of emerging technology in the way we do business and in hiring talents to join the industry,” said De Luzuriaga.
De Luzuriaga who is also the former executive director for Industry Affairs of the IBPAP, said that the technology growth areas and talent development are the vital factors that the country needs to prepare for the nearing full digital future.
He said companies should look beyond and align themselves in hiring digitally-fluent workforce.
This means, that the Philippines should not just be over complacent of its edge in language and highly-trainable people, because what is needed in the near future are those people who functions more than what the robots can do. (FREEMAN)
